We need to improve on our finances, says Wick Academy interim chairman as he sets out his priorities
Generating extra income and developing stronger links with the community will be among the main aims for Wick Academy under new interim chairman Alan Farquhar.
Supporters can also expect to see an enhanced social media output as the Highland League’s most northerly club seeks to “modernise” the way it operates.
On the park, Farquhar would like to see the Scorries continue where they left off after a strong finish to the 2024/25 campaign. The 37-year-old former club captain says his old team-mate Gary Manson has done a “tremendous” job as manager, adding: “The effort Gary puts in is unbelievable – he goes above and beyond any manager I’ve seen.”
Academy announced last week that Farquhar had been appointed as interim chairman, with another ex-player, James More (36), coming in as interim vice-chairman. A club statement said they will be looking to bring “fresh ideas and energy”.
Farquhar replaces Pat Miller, whose association with Academy began in 1973 and who had been chairman since 2019. Vice-chairman Stewart Gunn also stepped down from his role, with both remaining on the executive committee. The “interim” status will apply until the club’s next AGM in May 2026.
Financial matters are the first priority for Farquhar. He revealed that the club is having to spend about £35,000 a year on bus fees, between the first team and the under-18 squad who won last season’s SHFL Under 18 North title.
“There are a lot of costs that go out, especially travelling costs, which the club has struggled with over the last while as the prices go up,” Farquhar said. “We need to try and get that sustainable if we can because there’s a lot of money involved with travel, and wages, and everything else that’s involved with a club – it adds up to a lot over a year.
“First of all it’s just trying to get things levelled out with that if we can.
“You’re averaging about £1500 a trip for just the bus, not including meals and whatever else. If we can get any help from any companies, that’s what we will try and aim for – but we’ve also got to remember that we’re not the only sport getting played up here.”
A new supporters’ membership scheme called Club 1893 – taking its name from the year of Academy’s foundation – will replace the Wick Academy Premier Club monthly draw.
Club 1893 will offer a monthly draw with a prize of up to £500 for the winner, as well as a monthly raffle, a 10 per cent discount off merchandise and a monthly draw for hospitality at a home game.
“The whole idea is to try and take money in that will help us cover our costs,” Farquhar explained. “The Premier Club was very successful in its time, so we’re looking at updating to this one and the Premier Club will finish in September.
“We want to get as many people as we can to take it on. If we can get up to, say, 100 members, that will cover a good part of the costs for the bus. Ideally if Club 1893 gets up and running we’ll add Christmas bonuses and things like that.
“It’s £20 a month, but nowadays that’s a pint a week. It seems a lot, but at the same time you get good prizes out of it.
“We need to improve on our finances, mainly when it comes to the travelling costs. We need to try and pull that gap away and see if we can level that off.
“We don’t get any extra money for being where we are. You’re £2000 for [a trip to] Brechin. It’s averaging £1500 probably for Keith, Buckie… If you include us and our under-18s, we’re about £35,000 a year on the bus fees. That’s a lot of money.
“It kind of baffles me how it’s so expensive. It would be different if they turned around and said we’ll give you a subsidy, so much off, but we don’t get that.”
There may also be potential for restructuring in a way that would open up eligibility for grants from funding bodies.
Farquhar, who works as an assistant project manager at Dounreay, said: “We are definitely looking at the structure of the club, and looking at changing it. We have to. But any work we’ll be doing has got to be run through all members.”
He admitted: “We haven’t moved with the times as other clubs have, and that has a knock-on effect too.”
Improvements are being made with social media and the club’s website. “Scott Gunn has been doing Ross County’s graphics – he’s going to come in and run the social media aspects of it,” Farquhar said. “We’ve got Chris Aitken trying to tidy the website.”
Academy’s main sponsor remains the Beatrice offshore wind farm, which has its operations and maintenance base in the town. In the six years since Beatrice had its official opening, other major energy infrastructure projects have either been developed in Caithness or have been planned.
“Beatrice have been really good for us,” Farquhar said. “But when you look around, you’ve got so many things happening up here… That’s the kind of thing we’re looking at. There should be investment in some aspects.”
The interim chairman believes the club must develop stronger connections to the community.
“No disrespect to anything that has been done, but I think the community probably haven’t been involved a lot,” he said. “A lot of times it has been people coming in and getting involved but there’s nothing going back out to the community.
“What are we doing to help the community? I think that’s maybe the question we have to ask, and I think that’s something we need to improve on.
“Andrew Henderson [committee member] has been looking for quite a while now at how we try to improve it. We’ve spoken a couple of times to Allan Bruce, from the community council, so we’ve got a bit more communication going across.
“It’s not going to be immediate change. I think we’ve just got to have a three to five-year plan on how we look at doing that.
“Me and James are going to focus more on the day-to-day stuff right now and Andrew is in the background. He’s looking at longer-term stuff, what we’re planning, because it’s not an overnight thing.”
Meanwhile, the Harmsworth Park base for the Black and White Mini Ultras – a group of enthusiastic young supporters who have been adding to the matchday atmosphere – is to double in size.
“It was Andrew that started up the mini ultras last year,” Farquhar said. “We’re hoping that this season we’re going to have a 20ft container – the last one was 10ft. It’s going to be a bigger one now for more kids to go into.”
After a difficult spell during the first half of the 2024/25 season, the Scorries were much improved after the turn of the year. At one point they went on a seven-game unbeaten run, although ultimately they had to settle for 14th place in the table.
Gary Manson’s loyalty to Wick Academy is unrivalled. Next month sees the 25th anniversary of his debut for the club as a 16-year-old and he went on to make more than 700 competitive appearances. He has been manager since 2020.
Farquhar says he can’t speak highly enough of his former team-mate.
“A lot of people could walk away at certain points when you’re getting beat, you’re getting beat, you’re getting beat… To have that mindset to keep going, keep going, and then when you see the results, it must be a big bonus to him,” Farquhar said.
“Gary has been tremendous. The effort Gary puts in is unbelievable – he goes above and beyond any manager I’ve seen. He is doing things that are not really his role and it just shows he cares. He’s been the longest-serving player at the club for a reason – he cares a lot about it.
“We’ve just got to keep the standard and level up to what Gary has been trying to push.”
Young players featured prominently for the first team last season, while Academy became SHFL Under 18 North champions under the coaching trio of Derek Shearer, Scott Bremner and Steven Hughes. Shearer has now stepped down from his role as U18 head coach.
Farquhar said: “It was really good, and credit to Derek Shearer and Scott and Steven. They did very well with them, and Del has put a lot of years into the youth coming through.”
Farquhar praised the commitment of a small band of volunteers, including the outgoing chairman and vice-chairman, who work behind the scenes to keep the club going.
“Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we’ve got four or five people here cutting the grass or doing a bit of maintenance,” he said. “They come here from 10am until one o’clock and without these people we’d be struggling.
“Pat Miller and Dane Robertson are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Stewart Gunn comes along on Wednesday and Friday, and Jim McLachlan comes in to help cutting the grass as well, so it’s a mix of four of them.
“Dane does a massive amount of work at the park. He is just relentless. Luckily, Bruce Foubister has come in and he’s helping – he’s learning from Dane. He’s keen and he’s got the right attitude.
“Robbie More is not actually on the committee but does a lot of work.
“Pat has been involved in the club for about 50 years. It’s a massive amount of service, turning up three times a week, going off on a Saturday. He just gets on with it.
“People have got to remember, they don’t get paid for doing this. This is their hobby. It’s voluntary, and they probably get slagged off a lot for different things. That’s what happens – normally the keyboard warriors, the people that slag off, aren’t helping.
“Stewart Gunn has been tremendous. He’s coming in from Thurso the whole time, and with the amount of work he does the club is very lucky to have him. He just does so much.
“Pat and Stewart have put a lot of effort into the club. We’re delighted they are staying on to help.
“I’m hoping they are still going to travel down to games. For me and James, we’ve both got young kids, so I won’t travel to every game.”
Setting out some of the immediate targets, Farquhar said: “From a playing point of view, for the squad, we’ve got to carry on from the end of last season and focus on developing more people as we go on. There are players that are getting to the end of their career, and younger boys coming in, and that’s an important part, the transition, so they’re learning from the experienced players.
“From the point of view of running the club, we’re just going to try to modernise things. We’ll be looking firstly at the social media. Outside we’ve got the whole place painted up by the community payback team. Bob Miller [supervisor] was tremendous here with them. The guys were brilliant.”
Farquhar, who is from Castletown, made 362 competitive appearances for Academy after signing in August 2009. He took over the captaincy in 2014 and the following year the Scorries won their first silverware as a Highland League club when they lifted the North of Scotland Cup.
At his testimonial match at Harmsworth Park in May 2023, Farquhar led a team of past and present Wick players against an SPL Legends squad.
More made his last Highland League appearance for his home-town club in March this year, 20 years after his debut. He played 166 competitive matches and in recent times was goalkeeping coach.
Farquhar said: “James gets on with things. He’s been chairman of East End for a couple of years and how many roles has he been in here? You can rely on James, that’s the biggest thing.”
As a player, Farquhar was renowned for his composed style of defending and his ability to read the game. And he still hasn’t entirely ruled out the idea of pulling on the black-and-white stripes again in an emergency.
He said: “I’ll keep the boot bag with me, just in case!
“If Gary was properly stuck, and went travelling to a game with 10 or 11 players, I would go and help. I could play as a trialist.
“I could easily still play summer football, but I’ve decided that if I’m doing something like this you’ve got to commit yourself.
“I played for Castletown last season and I played for them against Wick Groats for 20 minutes this season.
“I’m a Castletown loon, that’s my team, but with getting involved with stuff here I can’t do both. It’s just not fair on the family, so I decided I’ll just focus on this.”
He added: “I wouldn’t say it’s daunting, but there’s a lot to do. If we can get more people in to help, that’ll make a big difference.
“We’ll get there but it’s going to take time.”
